During a hearing held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Members that he has not raised the issue of the atrocities committed against gay and bisexual men in Chechnya with his Russian counterparts. This revelation came after a series of questions by Rhode Island Democratic Representative David Cicilline (video above).

A bipartisan group of lawmakers passed House Resolution 351, sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) last month, which condemned the violence and persecution of LGBTQI people in Chechnya. However, neither the president nor senior U.S. officials including Secretary Tillerson have yet to actually weigh in on the situation, with the sole exception of United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Human Rights Watch has verified gay men in Chechnya abducted, held in secret locations, tortured, and killed.

International outcry has included statements condemning the detentions and killings by world leaders such as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.

A spokesperson for the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign took issue with Tillerson’s remarks to the committee.

“People have been tortured and killed in Chechnya, yet Secretary Tillerson admitted today he hasn’t raised concern about the atrocities against gay and bisexual men with his Russian counterparts — not even once,” said HRC’s Government Affairs Director David Stacy. “When directly asked during the hearing to clearly condemn the attacks, Sec. Tillerson declined to do so. And he had no idea if the President has raised the issue. The Trump/Pence administration’s lack of leadership on this issue and human rights around the globe is beyond disturbing. The time for action is now.”

Our policy on Chechnya makes it a dumpster fire. When the Sovet Union fell apart, Chechnya fought a war a separatist war to break away from Yeltsin's Russia. Yeltsin fought to keep Chechnya. When Putin came to power, the war was raging, and the US forced a settlement down Russia's throat, who was weak at that time, to allow Russia to keep Chechnya in exchange for Muslim autonomy in Chechnya. Any change on our position in Chechnya permits Putin to reopen that can of worms. We never should have forced the original Chechnya settlement on Russia.

Our policy on Chechnya makes it a dumpster fire. When the Sovet Union fell apart, Chechnya fought a war a separatist war to break away from Yeltsin's Russia. Yeltsin fought to keep Chechnya. When Putin came to power, the war was raging, and the US forced a settlement down Russia's throat, who was weak at that time, to allow Russia to keep Chechnya in exchange for Muslim autonomy in Chechnya. Any change on our position in Chechnya permits Putin to reopen that can of worms. We never should have forced the original Chechnya settlement on Russia.

Be careful. The liberals have made up their own rule that they won't discuss anything from the past on which we now know the facts. All they want to talk about is speculation, anonymous sources, and current investigations. Do not antagonize them with facts! How DARE you disrupt their fantasies! To redeem yourself, I suggest you purchase a case of Play Doh and a box of coloring books, and donate them to your nearest liberal college. And do NOT forget to include crayons! In fact, include EXTRA crayons because they like to chew on them.